what do you wish you had known before surgery?

[shabby]

hi all,

i am hoping to have sleeve surgery in june. i'm excited by it but also, really concerned that there are questions i have not thought to ask yet.

what do you wish you had know and didn't prior to surgery?

I'm worried that i may trade my obesity for other health problems because i was naive or uniformed about surgery.

what should i know!?!?!?!?

[Luna354]

Overall it has been a positive experience for me. I made sure I walked and walked as soon as I was allowed to in the hospital. I do think this helps you have a quick recovery. I'm doing things now I never really thought would be possible, living life and not watching. I have lost a TON of hair, which is normal, it's starting to grow back. In the big picture, it's a minor inconvenience. People apparently talk about me a lot. I told no one i was having surgery. Oh well, I call them all jealous bitches. One thing I never really thought about and that I'm dealing with now, is that my husband doesn't seem to be as attracted to me as he was before. It's kind of upsetting because he'd be all over me before, but now, not so much. And when I'm feeling confident in my new body, I think about this and it's a blow to my confidence. I'm dealing with this in therapy along with food issues, therapy helps a lot.

I wanted to add that I knew all of these things were possible going in.

[Terribj]

To ease your concerns - this is by far the best thing I have ever or will ever do for ME.
Tomorrow is my 4 year anniversary and I feel I was successful because I started these things 4 months prior to my surgery: ( At my goal weight and have stayed since I hit it)

Stop drinking with your meals - this was the hardest for me.
Stop drinking all carbonation
Start counting protein, carbs and sugar (for me it's protein 65g, carbs no more than 150 and no more than 25g of sugar) STOP counting calories.
Start walking, exercising

I have had no health issues since i had surgery. I feel so much better physically and mentally.

It will be a great ride!!
best of luck

[sraebaer]

Wish I had known how easy it would be! How in less than a year I would go from an obese to a regular sized person. My results were beyond my wildest dreams. NEVER could I imagine myself not being fat. It is just SO MUCH FUN!

Keep doing your research and you'll be a pro. At the hospital the nurses said sleeve patients are the most educated patients she sees. This is a good place to learn, and I also enjoyed all the you tube videos. Totally inspirational.

The only thing I didn't know going in was that I was going to have to have blood thinner shots for about the first 2 weeks after surgery. My husband did them, I couldn't do it to myself! That was my only surprise.

So excited for you!

[KiwiGal]

As said above the more research that you can do the better...and asking here is a great idea as there is a wealth of information from people who have all had slightly different experiences from the same surgery.
The best bit is that the surgery works!
My only piece of advise is to follow the instructions given to you by your surgeon to the letter. Give yourself the best chance to make this work for you.

Before I found this forum (and prior to my surgery) the most helpful thing for me was to speak to someone that had had the operation about 18 months previously in New Zealand. She was able to give me some great advise re locally sourced foods etc.
One of the best pieces of advise she gave me was when replacing your clothes - because all your clothes will be too big fairly soon - was to not buy much and to buy cheap! So far I have had to replace work trousers/jeans 3 times (increasingly smaller sizes) in the six months since I had my surgery. Once you get to your target weight, then you can splash out.
Wishing you all the best.

[Ann2]

Like terribj and sraebaer, I'm a relative sleeve veteran (but far from the most tenured sleever on this board).

And like both of them, I was uncertain (like most of us are) that the sleeve would finally be the tool I needed to conquer my lifelong (since age 7) battle with weight.

As you might expect, the sleeve didn't do all the work for me. Since being sleeved I have worked my butt off to change my lifestyle. And changing your lifestyle -- what you eat, how you eat, when you eat, how much you eat, how active you become, learning that exercise is our best friend (not our enemy) -- is how you'll change your life for good. The sleeve offers you new, stronger advantages and opportunities to do that.

Spoiler: I've lost 100+ pounds and kept it all off. If you'd like to read about my journey, click on the "surgiversary" links below at the bottom of my signature block.

Welcome!

[Christie13]

Welcome !! I read a lot before my sleeve. I don't think there was anything I wasn't prepared for since I used this forum and https://www.obesitycoverage.com/gast...erence-manual/ to do my research. I think my advice would be to make sure you take progress pics and measurements before you start your pre op diet and then every 2 weeks after that. I didn't start my pics/measurements until 3 days post op. I had already lost on my pre op. I felt very ready when I had my surgery. I was still scared it would not work for me because of all my dieting failures in the past but here I am living the sleeved dream.

[DHB]

I am a writer and researcher so I read everything I could find on the topic. Had lists, charts, etc. What I didn't realize was how much of this is really a journey of enlightenment. Getting in touch with your body. Understanding how your weight has been affecting you. Finding out what it feels to have a huge burden (obsession with food) lifted.

For example, I'm an extrovert married to an introvert. But over the past few years, as I've gained more weight and wanted to hide, I've become pretty anti-social. I'm down about 50lbs and feel so much better about myself. I have more energy. I want to engage with the world again. Exercise is fun now. It's all quite a bit for my husband to handle and honestly, I do feel like I have a new lease on life. I had no idea how much the weight loss would affect my mood, energy, psyche. I still have quite a bit more to lose but I think my husband is wondering what I may do when I lose another 50lbs. Our relationship is good and he's been supportive, but it's different. I'm different. Being obese slowly sucks the life out of us in ways we may not be able to articulate as it's happening. Moving back toward a "normal" weight is just so incredibly empowering. Get ready for the ride of your life!

[sraebaer]

I love how you put this into words Dale,

"Being obese slowly sucks the life out of us in ways we may not be able to articulate as it's happening. Moving back toward a "normal" weight is just so incredibly empowering. Get ready for the ride of your life!"

Its indescribable really, but you got pretty close!

[shabby]

wow. a year in and your hair is just coming back? yicks! i have a LOT of hair, so hopefully it won't be too noticeable on me.
i'm sorry to hear about your relations with your husband. that's a side effect i wouldn't have expected. it must be hard for you to have worked so hard and had that negative response from your spouse. glad to hear you're working through it with a professional though.
good luck to you luna354, and thanks for responding.

[shabby]

thanks for answering teribj. not drinking with meals does feel strange to me as well. i understand why, but have always 'washed' my meals down with water. i don't normally drink carbonation or caffeine, so I'm not concerned about those but sugar! i will so very very much miss sugar.
it seem unreal that so i am hearing no negatives about the surgery (here and at support groups i have attended). it seems too good to be true.

four years out and maintaining is amazing! go you!

[shabby]

srsebaer,
thanks so much for responding.
the blood thinner thing is not something i had considered. yuck. not looking forward to that!
thanks again for the encouragement.

[shabby]

kiwi gal,
thanks so much for your encouragement.
that's a good point about the clothes. i've already been thinking that i should probably not get rid of any clothes as i shrink (hopefully), as i'm told after the first year, a certain about of regain is very likely. fingers crossed, there won't be much regain.
i will see if i can find someone local to chat with.

[shabby]

ann2,
thanks for responding. i am concerned that after all the difficulty involved in the surgery and relearning how to eat, that i'll lack the fortitude to keep it up. i'll try to embody your enthusiasm for a new life.

[shabby]

christie13,
pics every two weeks is a great idea.i think i'll pick a tee shirt and yoga pants and wear the same outfit for each pic. that should be fun!
thanks for the other website suggestion. i'll check that out today.
thanks for responding!